Gariguette strawberries arrive at market

Head to your local market this weekend and you may find some gariguettes - the sweet and juicy early-season fraise beloved of French fruit lovers.

Breton shoppers in Lesneven, Finistère are already stocking up on the small available quantities of the sought-after strawberry, despite the hefty price of €3.95 for a 250g punnet (€15 the kilo).

Scarcity pushes the gariguette price up but this will drop once the harvest picks up speed and other more common varieties arrive. “Soon you will find gariguettes for €10 per kilo and by the end of May or early June, as the first summer fruits arrive, strawberries will be more affordable. €6 or €7 per kilo is normal,” said stallholder Vincent Maguet

This year, gariguette growers have reported good weather conditions to bring their fruit to maturity. Strawberry and tomato producer André Hascoët, from Cléder in Finistère, said: “There has been plenty of sunshine and chilly nights to help the sugar migrate toward the fruit.” His hand-picked and carefully packed fruit will be dispatched all over France.

The quality of Spanish strawberries, which are often sold at a fraction of the price of those grown in France, is the subject of an ongoing legal battle.

Jean-Claude Terle, an organic vegetable grower in Soissons, Aisne, lodged a complaint claiming unfair competition from Spanish producers. Following a visit he made to Andalusia, he claims that his Iberian counterparts use three dangerous chemicals banned by the European Commission.

France Info has reported on the results of a study by the association Générations Futures, which revealed 100% of Iberian strawberries tested were contaminated by dozens of pesticides including eight endocrine disruptors.

Strawberries from Spain are now being analysed before the Commission decides whether or not to proceed with the complaint.

Spain produces eight times more red fruit than France. In the massive wholesale market at Rungis in Paris, a Spanish kilo costs 60 centimes compared to €8 for Mr Terle’s organic strawberries.

"If nothing is done [about the use of pesticides], there will soon be no more strawberry producers in France," the French farmer said to Le Figaro.